Kukla's Korner Hockey

There’s speculation the clock is ticking on Blue Jackets president and GM Doug MacLean because his club is going to miss the playoffs ... again. Just wondering? Would the Jackets bring in former Flyers GM Bobby Clarke to take over from MacLean? Clarke is close friends with former Philadelphia and current Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock. The reason Clarke stepped down from his post with the Flyers was because he didn’t want to give in to owner Ed Snider’s demands to fire Hitchcock.

Good to know that it was the same old, same old coming out of Edmonton.
Another great guy became just another greedy bum on the way out the door, this at least according to the Edmonton management and media - or is that redundant?
Really, does anyone honestly believe Ryan Smyth left the Oilers over $100,000 a year? Why would Kevin Lowe - who, like Paul Coffey and Mark Messier before him, forced his way out of Edmonton in order to make more money elsewhere - feel the need to spread that fantasy tale?

Every year, it seems the trade deadline produces some big stories. Fans get excited. The media gets excited. But this is one of those stories that gets lost in all that wheeling and dealing. This is one of those stories that reminds you people are getting traded, not—what’s that word again? ah yes—assets.
“It’s great to be in the playoffs but that human side is overlooked,” said Smolinski, who was visibly moved as he talked about his situation on Saturday. “I guess it comes with the territory. I’m not the only one who’s had a trying time. But there’s still that side to it.
“It’s a chaos of emotions. You’re not too far away but your family needs that support system and it was very hard, very hard on my wife.”

“A lot of questions hit you,” Smolinski says of his reaction to the trade. “The first five or six hours, you throw your arms up in the air. It’s pretty emotional for the family. I had to take the kids to dinner and explain what’s going on.
“It’s tough, but there’s not much else you can do. The kids still have their routine. You just want to make sure when you talk to them, it counts.”

Although he’s downplaying it now, Havlat likely will feel differently Sunday when he takes the ice and sees former teammates across from him. Havlat spent his first five years in the NHL in Ottawa.
Martin Lapointe vividly remembers the first time he faced the Detroit Red Wings after signing as a free agent with the Boston Bruins in 2001-02.
“It was a weird feeling,” Lapointe said. “I felt like I was on the wrong side. You spend so many years there and have such great memories, you never think you are going to leave.”

“He’s a big dude,” winger Nils Ekman said of the 6-foot-3, 243-pound Laraque. “When you see him without hockey equipment on, you can see he’s just huge.”
Forward Erik Christensen said, “I really started to appreciate how big he was when I shook his hand and my hand disappeared into his.”...
“If I didn’t enjoy it,” Laraque said, “I wouldn’t do it. So yes, I enjoy it.”
“It looks like this will be dynasty for years to come, and for a veteran to be a part of it and do my role of looking after them, it’s just an honor.”

Alexei Morozov of Ak Bars Kazan, the leading scorer in the Russian Superliga, had an assist in the first period of his club’s 6-2 victory over Metallurg Magnitogorsk last Tuesday, giving him 80 points for the season. That broke the single-season record for points at the top level of Russian or Soviet domestic hockey, set in 1980-81 by Sergei Makarov of CSKA Moscow.
Later in that game, Morozov scored his 33rd goal of the season, which also led the league. But with two games left, he is well short of the single-season domestic record: Venyamin Aleksandrov had 53 for CSKA in 1962-63.

...plus a look at the Preds attendance…

Morozov’s an unrestricted free agent, so an NHL team could theoretically sign him, but they’d have to waive him per article 13.23 of the CBA.

Jacques Martin will coach his 1,000th regular-season game in the NHL tonight, a milestone tinged with elation and reverence as he remembers his mentor, close friend, former colleague and idol, the late Roger Neilson.
Martin will become the 12th coach in league history to accomplish the feat and tie Neilson, who was the Panthers’ first head coach.
‘‘I feel honored to still work in this league,’’ Martin said of the milestone. `I’m wondering where the time has gone.’‘

Enjoy the two games this weekend, note that we are up against College Hoops on CBS and Arena Football on ABC, two sports we can beat and two sports that wanna beat us (particularly the kicked-off-of-NBC AFL) so check out the two tilts!

Cam Janssen of the New Jersey Devils has been suspended for three games for his hit on Toronto defenceman Tomas Kaberle during the second period of the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 shootout win in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday night.
Kaberle, who was conscious and communicative after being taken off the ice on a stretcher, spent the night under observation in hospital.

added 5:09pm, from Kara Yorio of the Sporting News,

Of course, I can’t be completely happy with this decision because of the explanation.
Campbell’s statement did not mention that Janssen hit Kaberle in the head. If Janssen had hit Kaberle late but not in the head, it’s very unlikely there would have been an injury. There certainly wouldn’t have been the scary scene that followed the brutal hit. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t even have been noticed. Late hits happen all the time. Guys shake them off and catch up to the play. Just another part of the game.
Like blows to the head, unfortunately.

In a season of failure and disappointment for the Edmonton Oilers, Raffi Torres and Joffrey Lupul find themselves unwilling but worthy poster boys for expectations unfulfilled.
After coming within a win of a Stanley Cup celebration against the Carolina Hurricanes last spring, the Oilers face the prospect of missing the playoffs in the Western Conference altogether.